Norwegians sue Tesla for not being Viking enough

Telsa’s Norwegian customers are unhappy with the US electric-car manufacturer, saying their models marketed with an “insane mode” of acceleration needed a lot more Viking.

Some 126 owners of the Tesla Model S sedan’s P85D performance version are seeking unspecified reimbursements after the model only reached 469 horsepower instead of a pledged 700 hp.

Kaspar Thommessen, an attorney at Wikborg Rein law firm representing the plaintiffs said that the car has too low horsepower and it affects the car’s performance, according to the consumers.

Tesla spokesman Even Sandvold Roland, said that is rubbish and it meets requirements “according to the measurement method required by the authorities.”

Norway is one of the biggest markets for the Model S, mostly because the state subsidises electric-car purchases. Still it is not cheap. Tesla flogs its P90D $96,700. It is an earlier model which had the so called “insane mode” acceleration option after it came out two years ago.

Norway’s Consumer Disputes Commission ruled in June that five P85D buyers who complained of inadequate acceleration should be reimbursed as much as 50,000 kroner apiece.

Sandvold Roland said Tesla’s own tests and independent checks showed the P85D can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers (60 miles) per hour in 3.1 to 3.3 seconds. That indicates the performance figures “have always been accurate,”